Luigi's Mansion

Chapter 16 - Captured

   The wind whistled violently through the trees, causing the dead branches to sway dangerously back and forth, threatening to break. The sky overhead was beginning to darken, but of that none took notice; for there were none else in all the forest.

   With a grunt of irritation the elderly professor rose to his feet. Picking up the nozzle of the futuristic machine he wore on his back, he adjusted his glasses and faced the wind.

   It was time to end this.

   Before him on the opposite side of the clearing, his shady opponent hovered. The monster was just as stubborn as he was, but his defeat was near. The deathly silence of its ominous approach echoed throughout Boo Woods.

   "You'll never take me!" the enormous boo bellowed, his grating voice carrying on the air.

   "Well then I suppose you've got a lesson coming to you, old boy," the professor replied back, shouldering his trusty weapon.

   The woods held its breath as the distance between them lessened. The great boo began to back away, nearly fading into the trees but not quite. He would not give in.

   Neither would give in, and neither would give up until one emerged victorious.

   The professor stared the boo down with a sternness long practiced on spirits of all reputations. This was an admirable one indeed; though perhaps not the brightest. The professor had been excited to find the sinister creature ever since its existence had been made known to him; and so he had been tireless to seek it out.

   The boo, for all its many faces, seemed unable to judge when to use them. The old man, on the contrary, got along well with just one. He knew, as his powerful adversary did not, of the overhanging branch behind him which reached out like a jagged horn.

   Another couple of seconds passed, and then ten. The boo continued to watch the old man closely. It was not until the last moment, when the professor's eyes shifted to the trees behind him, that he realized the trap laid for him; and so was defeated the mighty Boolossus.

   The man victorious glanced at the sky with a rather exhausted look. The clouds were gathering, and an abrupt blackness had taken over the wilderness. If there was joy to be felt at the beast's capture, nature did not reflect it.

   Gathering his vacuum, the professor turned and left the clearing, still catching his breath and enjoying the satisfaction of his immense catch. He thought with eagerness of the small wooden hut that waited about a mile away, glowing like a beacon. If a storm was coming on Boo Woods, he would rather be trapped inside than out among it.

~

   But the rain, it seemed, would never come. For a night and a day the forest was suspended in an unusual darkness; sunrise never came, or at the least it was impossible to tell when it had done so.

   Professor Elvin Gadd had left his lab in such a state early the following morning, out on small business; and when he returned home it was late that evening. The sky had not changed its expression all day, but hung, angry and growling, holding the woods hostage.

   Upon his return, he decided that perhaps he would go down to his gallery to take a look at his paintings – and among them his newest and possibly finest piece of all.

   As he descended the wooden stairs underground, it occurred to him a strange feeling that something was not right here; something had been upset below. Nearly beside himself with worry, he raced to the warehouse where his most valuable invention was kept; and he was relieved to find that all was well.